NEW ZEALAND TIGHTENS TERRORISM FINANCE LAW

UNCLAS WELLINGTON 000504 SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/ESC/TFS, EAP/ANP AND S/CT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KTFN EFIN PTER PREL NZ SUBJECT: NEW ZEALAND TIGHTENS TERRORISM FINANCE LAW REF: WELLINGTON 160 ¶1. New Zealand's Parliament has passed legislation strengthening the country's terrorism finance law. The legislation extends until 2007 the country's UN Security Council-related designations of terrorist organizations. It also makes illegal the intentional financing of non- designated organizations that engage in terrorism. Those provisions were aimed at keeping New Zealand law in compliance with UN Security Council resolutions and at following Financial Action Task Force recommendations. ¶2. The legislation, known as the Terrorism Suppression Amendment Bill (No. 2),passed June 17 by a 97-10 vote. The Green and Maori Parties opposed it, viewing the bill as unnecessary and as a threat to New Zealanders' civil liberties. ¶3. The Terrorism Suppression Act 2002, which allows the government to designate terrorists and terrorist organizations and to freeze their assets, had required that New Zealand's UN-related designations expire in October unless renewed individually by the High Court. The amendment extends the expiration date by two years. The amendment also creates a new legal sanction against those who knowingly collect or provide funds to benefit non- designated terrorist organizations. The act already had made illegal the financing of terrorist acts and of designated terrorist entities. ¶4. The government is considering additional anti-terrorist and anti-money-laundering measures, partly because its largely deregulated financial system has created potential loopholes that must be closed to meet international standards. The government also has acknowledged a need to look at its procedures for designating terrorists (reftel) and has ordered a review of the 2002 law, which the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee must complete by December 1. SWINDELLS